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As you know, I am by no means an expert or very knowledgeable when it comes to competition prints, but in my humble opinion, this does not have the impact to merit. Cats are fairly common subjects and I think this image lacks punch. I think it needs more light in the face/eyes. And it looks like just about every other cat picture, so I'm not sure it will fly in competition.

Betsy
"Morris" "Mouserrr" "de-Mouser"
I think your placement is excellant. Assuming this is sharp from nose to ears I do believe this is merit worthy. If you have not done so already, set your dodge tool to highlights at 12-15% and go over the cats fur especially on the shadow side. Then set the burn to shadows 4-5% and go back over the same areas. This really adds demension to the hair. Works wonders on portraits of women as well, kinda like when they go in for highlights.
Good Luck
Keith

Questioning Keith

I guess this is one of those times when having the subject on one of the quadrants isn't that important ? I'm posting it exactly as shown with my composition grid on top to show that it's inches lower than the 2nd quadrant. Could you please explain ?

Cool thanks Keith. Yup, this one is TACK sharp. I did lighten the dark areas -- didn't burn the shadows in though before ordering -- oh well. I think it pops pretty well as it was when I ordered it.

Craig -- I originally tried to find proper placement using thirds etc-- but absolutely couldn't place this without loosing part of my image. I ended up placing it 1" from the top and 1.25" from the left

I guess this is one of those times when having the subject on one of the quadrants isn't that important ? I'm posting it exactly as shown with my composition grid on top to show that it's inches lower than the 2nd quadrant. Could you please explain ?

Yes it is not perfectly in a quadrant. Yet it works well. The rule of thirds is a guide, it usually is pertty darn close but it doesn't mean that you can not give a little. It doesn't mean that you can not have a bulls eye (dead center) composition. It has to be what works best for the image. In this case, I could shrink the image to make it fit but it would lose the impact. You could choose a different quadrant and in my opinion it would lose impact because of the lighting direction and cats body. When you flip the image to try to make it fit the rule better, the body of the cat looks wrong if it is on the left side of the presentation and if it is on the Right side then the lighting pulls you out of the image.
The rules are good but they are a guide, the end result is what feels right when you are looking at the overall presention. The position from the top, bottom and sides of the image in relation to the presentation. This is one of the reasons that circle mats or presentations are not used as often. In this case I like the circle and I like the presentation.
I hope this helps explain why In some cases the image will work even when you don't follow the rules of composition or keys to the letter.
Keith